Trump Suggests Withholding Aid to Curb Illegal Immigration

Wall Street Journal

By Louise Radnofsky

May 23, 2018

Trump Suggests Withholding Aid to Curb Illegal Immigration

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he wanted to cut aid for the home countries of illegal immigrants to the U.S. based on the number of their citizens who crossed the border, expanding on an earlier threat to reduce foreign aid for Central American countries.

“We’re working on a plan to deduct a lot of the aid,” Mr. Trump said at a round table event on Long Island to discuss gang violence by the Central American-tied MS-13. He added that he believed some countries actively encouraged citizens to leave for the U.S., saying, “They’re not trying to stop it…They don’t want the people that we’re getting.”

He then proposed making aid deductions on a per capita basis “every time someone comes in from a certain country.” Some immigration policy experts argue that the way to prevent migrants from coming to the U.S. is to increase aid to the region to combat poverty and gang violence.

The event was attended by several high-profile members of Mr. Trump’s administration and a roster of local Republican politicians discussing U.S. immigration policy, as well as Long Island families affected by MS-13 violence. It took place as Democrats gathered a few miles away for the New York state party convention.

Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, who has drawn ire from Mr. Trump over the investigation he oversees into potential Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, was among the officials who spoke at the event.

Mr. Rosenstein said the admission of unaccompanied children—who have drawn attention in recent weeks as some administration officials argue they should be sent back—meant bringing in “vulnerable” people who could themselves be susceptible to gang recruitment. Advocates for the children typically argue they are fleeing gangs and need a haven in the U.S.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who also attended the event, faulted U.S. immigration policy for allowing known gang members to enter the U.S. because there was no legal way to bar them.

A long list of grounds for inadmissibility doesn’t specifically include gang membership but does include a variety of criminal reasons, many of which don’t require conviction.

In April, Mr. Trump tweeted a threat to cut off aid to Honduras, in particular, amid frustration over a protest march of asylum seekers traveling from gang-ridden Central America through Mexico in hopes of entering the U.S.

The U.S. plans to send $65.8 million in aid to Honduras in fiscal year 2019, according to the State Department. Most of the funds go to violence prevention, justice and rule-of-law programs, along with funding for border and narcotics enforcement.

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